Searchin'
by Freedom Fighter
Summary: Stella's lost the Ring of Solaria, so she has the others help her look for it. So much for that picnic they planned. One-shot.


Hi everyone! I've decided to try a few new things in order to make up for the quota of things lost over the past year or so. They're small projects which don't require much commitment, but they should be very fun to write and read.  
  
Here's one of the this month's two projects... a fanfic based on the hit Fox Box TV series "The Winx Club." This little number is from Italy, and it stars a young girl named Bloom who learns that she has powers. Magical powers that had been hidden from her for years. But after saving Princess Stella of Solaria from being captured by a giant ogre, she invites her to come to attend Alfea, a school in the realm of Magix. It's here that Bloom meets her roommates, Flora, Musa, Tecna, and Stella, of course.  
  
Together, these five girls use their varying fairy powers and become the "Winx Club."  
  
Unfortunately, getting through school is the least of their problems. Especially when the girls are constantly bothered by three senior-class students at Cloud Tower, a place where witches learn to hone their powers. Can Bloom learn where her powers came from? And if she discovers the truth, can she keep the witches from getting it?  
  
The first season now airs on the Fox Box (check local listings) and its popularity in Europe, particular in its home country of Italy, has prompted the production of a second season! Hopefully, we'll be lucky to see it on our shores next year.  
  
In the meantime, it's time to begin! The magic's in you... and in this one-shot!  
  
Disclaimer: The characters of "The Winx Club" that are used in this fanfic do not belong to me.  
  
The Winx Club - "Searchin'" (10.29.04)  
Story Written by Freedom Fighter  
  
As it was everyday outside Alfea, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping,  
and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. So it was natural that almost every student in the school was out and about, getting in a whiff of fresh air instead of the smell of the dull and dusty classrooms.  
  
But inside the dormitories, there were at least five girls who had yet to emerge from their rooms. At least, not yet anyway. Their classmates knew them as Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa, and Tecna. But they commonly refered to themselves by the group name they had assigned themselves... the Winx Club!  
  
The quintet shared living quarters, with three bedrooms and one large main living room. Due to their numbers, one of the girls got a room all to herself. Naturally, it went to the princess, Stella. The natural blonde was best known for being peppy, spoilt to a degree, and the least likely to succeed of the roomies academically.  
  
But the only personality trait Stella was showing right now was desperation. She was running all about, throwing bed sheets, clothes, bottles of perfume, and other things around the room. With each new object that she misplaced, she became more frantic and panicky.  
  
"Where is it? Where is it?" she asked aloud.  
  
Stella continued to throw her room into shambles, more than aware of how much danger she'd be in if she couldn't find what she was searching for.  
  
Out in the living room, Tecna and Musa were coming out of the room they shared for sleeping quarters. Musa emerged first, cradling a few CDs with her right arm and carrying a boombox in her left. Tecna was right behind her, with a long, purple blanket wrapped around her arms. They looked around, as if they were searching for something themselves. Or a few someones.  
  
"So, where is everyone?" Tecna asked.  
  
Musa shrugged. "Shouldn't they have been back by now?"  
  
"Naturally. How hard can it be to make a few sandwiches?"  
  
Suddenly, the front door swung open, and Bloom and Flora stepped in, holding a picnic basket and a small cooler, respectively. They were laughing heartily about something, and Tecna and Musa couldn't figure out why. That is, until Tecna noticed a small white splotch on Flora's strawberry-print skirt.  
  
"What's that stain on your skirt there, Flora?" pointed out Tecna.  
  
"Oh, this?" Flora replied. "I guess I didn't get all of it."  
  
"Get all of what?"  
  
"The mayonaise."  
  
Bloom giggled. "You see, we weren't the only ones in the kitchen preparing for a picnic. There were a few sophomores fooling around. One of them was carrying a spreading knife with some mayonaise on it, slipped on a glob that had fallen off, and in the act of falling, brushing the knife against Flora's skirt."  
  
"I'm sure that it was 'someone else' who tripped and put mayo on Flora, Bloom!" Musa remarked sarcastically.  
  
"It was!" defended Bloom. "Really!"  
  
"You really should save the fun for outside!"  
  
Bloom blushed. "It was nothing like that!"  
  
As Musa and Bloom got into a small debate of what actually happened, and with Flora wisely staying out of it, Tecna came to a startling realization.  
  
"Say... where's Stella?"  
  
"Probably still picking out something to wear," answered Bloom. "I'll go get her."  
  
Bloom walked over towards the door leading into Stella's room. Upon entering, she gasped upon noticing the state of her friend's living quarters.  
  
"Stella? What's going on?"  
  
Suddenly, Stella popped out from a pile of designer clothes bunched up in an empty corner of the room. Frowning, she made her way out of her mess and ran over to Bloom, who took a step into the room to meet her.  
  
"I can't find it! I don't know where it is!"  
  
"Where what is?"  
  
"What's wrong?" Flora asked, as the others had wandered over to the doorway.  
  
"I can't find my ring!" Stella cried.  
  
"Your ring? You mean the Ring of Solaria?"  
  
"Uh huh," Stella nodded, now looking at Bloom with hope gleaming in her eyes.  
  
"I guess we'd better help you look for it." Bloom looked at the others. "What do you guys say?"  
  
"I don't see why not," came the answer from Tecna. "Besides, we'll never get to have our picnic at this rate!"  
  
Surely Stella's room couldn't get anymore messier, but the girls were sure doing a good job of disproving that theory. They were throwing clothes, hairbrushes, makeup kits, and books all over the place again and again. But after half an hour of searching, the Ring of Solaria still hadn't turned up.  
  
"What am I gonna do?" Stella yelled. "I'm practically helpless without it!"  
  
"Think, Stella!" Bloom told her, grabbing her friend's shoulders. "Where did you last leave it?"  
  
"Hmmm..." Stella thought, trying to recall the last 24 hours. "Well, I knew I took it off last night before I went to sleep... but that was before I went to your room to ask you to help me study for that potions and spells mid-term we have on Monday!"  
  
"That's right... I remember now!" Bloom said happily.  
  
"You mean you know where my ring might be?"  
  
"You might've brought it to my room. Come on!"  
  
"Um, Bloom..." Flora cut in. "Are you sure..."  
  
Bloom winked back at her. "Trust me."  
  
"This won't end well," Musa noted, as Bloom pulled Stella towards her room.  
  
"I didn't think there was anything well about this to begin with," Tecna said back.  
  
It didn't take long for Bloom and Stella to make a mess out of the bedroom that Bloom shared with Flora. Probably the only thing they didn't touch was Flora's living man-eating plant, which lied right next to her closet. Which also assured there was no way Stella was going to try to go through Flora's clothesrack anyway. Bloom's, though, was ripe for the picking.  
  
"I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be in there," Bloom said, a little miffed as Stella through one of Bloom's outfits in her face.  
  
"Have I ever told you how tacky some of these blouses of yours are?"  
  
Bloom sighed and rolled her eyes. "Only about a thousand or two times, Stell."  
  
Stella turned around, dusting her hands off to signify she was done with the closet. "Well, I guess I'd better tell you again. Speaking of which... Flora, come here and open yours so I can see if you're hiding it!"  
  
"Hiding it?" questioned the redhead.  
  
"Why would I want to hide something that important?" Flora asked as she entered the room with Tecna and Musa in tow.  
  
Stella shrugged her shoulders. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you guys were doing this to me on purpose!"  
  
"But why would we do that?" Tecna asked, watching Flora open her closet door.  
  
"You must've been messing with the seniors again," deduced Musa. "They probably got her with a crankiness spell this time."  
  
"I am not cranky!" defended Stella, stomping her foot down. She then turned to glance into Flora's closet... which happened to be clean as a whistle, save for a few dozen books on raising healthy plants that took up almost all of the floor space.  
  
"Are you satisfied?" Flora told Stella. "I'm not hiding your ring!"  
  
"Wait... something just came to me!" Stella said before pointing at Tecna. "You came in my room to help me study too! Maybe you took it!"  
  
"Why would I take it?" defended Tecna, pointing at herself. "I have my own Winx,  
remember? Stealing your powers wouldn't make me any stronger."  
  
"Maybe not... but it would be fun to watch me make a complete fool of myself! Out of my way... I'm checking your room!"  
  
"But it's a mess!"  
  
"Well, it's about to get even messier!" the blonde shouted as she stormed off across the hall.  
  
As Tecna and Musa chased after Stella in an attempt to keep her from trashing their room, Flora started to put her half of the room together as Bloom giggled with glee.  
  
"I'm beginning to think this wasn't such a good idea," the nature-lover said.  
  
"We're having fun, aren't we?" Bloom smiled. "Besides, it's just a harmless little prank. And we'll still get to have our picnic."  
  
As Bloom left the room, Flora sighed. "It always starts this way..."  
  
Computer diskettes, half-played cassette tapes, numerous pages full of notes, and other things were knocked out of place as Stella rummaged through the maze of media that made up Tecna and Musa's room. Tecna and Musa could only watch, unable to stop Stella from getting her way and searching every nook and cranny for her ring.  
  
"This better be worth it," Tecna told Bloom as she entered the room behind her.  
  
"For sure," Musa added. "I just alphabetized my CD collection this morning!"  
  
"It's gotta be here... it's gotta be here... aaahhhhh!" Stella screamed, throwing her hands up in frustration. "It's not in here either!"  
  
Stella ran out of the room, on the verge of crying her head off. Tecna and Musa glared at Bloom, who became quickly frightened at the mean looks being shot at her.  
  
"Playtime's over, Bloom!" Musa shouted.  
  
"I agree," Tecna nodded. "It's time to end this charade and give Stella her ring back."  
  
"You're right," Bloom said, accepting defeat. "At this rate, we'll be cleaning up the mess she made for the rest of the day."  
  
Bloom walked out, as Tecna and Musa followed close behind, eyes still glaring through their redheaded leader's back. But all their looks would change to ones of surprise when they saw Flora handing the Ring of Solaria back to Stella.  
  
"Here you go," Flora said to an overjoyed Stella.  
  
"Yes! I finally got my ring back!" Stella's joy then turned to anger as she glared at her savior. "Where were you hiding it, Flora?"  
  
Before Stella could spook poor Flora into confessing the whole plan, Bloom stepped forward to admit responsibility for the prank.  
  
"Stella, Flora's not the one you should be mad at. You should be mad at me."  
  
"I knew you were behind it all along!"  
  
Tecna and Musa shook their heads. "She didn't have a clue," they said simultaneously.  
  
"It was my idea to take your ring and hide it, Stella. I just wanted to have a little fun before we went on our picnic. I just didn't think you'd get this upset."  
  
"Well, you thought wrong! Where were you hiding it, anyway?"  
  
"At first, I hid it under my pillow... but then this morning, I took it with me to the kitchen so you wouldn't find it right away."  
  
"And all of you were in on it?" Stella asked, looking at the others.  
  
The other three girls nodded, though Flora looked very sad doing so.  
  
"If it's any consolation," Flora said shyly, "I wasn't too keen on the idea."  
  
"Oh, come on Flora!" Bloom cut in, patting Flora on the back. "When I came up with it,  
you were the first one to approve of it!"  
  
Flora blushed with embarassment. "Only because you had approached me long before you told Tecna and Musa about it!"  
  
"I'm very disappointed in you, girls!" interrupted Stella. "To think you'd pull a trick like that on me! I'd have to admit, you had me in a panic for a minute there!"  
  
"So you're okay with what we did?" Bloom asked.  
  
"Not a chance! All this means is now I've got to think of a way to get back at you all! And you'd better watch out Bloom, 'cause I'm coming after you first!"  
  
The fivesome shared a good laugh, then a big hug, as it seems Stella had forgiven them for the little joke.  
  
"Now... let's clean up this mess we made and go out and have that picnic!"  
  
It took an hour or two, but after their entire dorm was cleaned up and spotless, even better than it was before, the girls gathered their picnic goodies and headed out to enjoy what was left of a beautiful Saturday afternoon.  
  
Want to see another 'Winx Club' fanfic? Review and let me know! And don't forget to say what you thought about this one! Until next time, folks! 


End file.
